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Anosh Fatima

Ms Hooriya Liaqat

Shakespearean Studies

14th February, 2023.

Unveiling hidden ideologies in Language: A Corpus-based Critical Discourse Analysis of

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

Abstract

The play "Macbeth" by William Shakespeare is the focus of this study .This article's objective is

to examine the play's language features. This essay's main goal is to investigate how words are

used to exercise domination, manipulation and power. For the play analysis, Fairclough's (1989)

most well-known CDA research model was applied. The textual, discursive, and sociological

levels of text are considered when examining the play's corpus. The data in this study is

evaluated both quantitatively and qualitatively, making it a mixed-methods study. The play's

corpus is analysed using AntConc (version 3.5.9) software. Concordances, word lists, and

keywords have been removed. The main conclusions of the study are that the majority of the

negative lexical terms, such as dominance, politics, manipulation, etc., explain the underlying

ideologies that have been present there. The positive and negative lexicon also conveys feelings

like love, hate, retaliation, etc. Additionally, pronouns depict the identities of the characters, and

it was discovered that the majority of them are self-centered. We were able to decipher

Shakespeare's more general implicit theories in the play "Macbeth" thanks to the concordance of

certain terms. The study is restricted to outlining the concordances, wordlists, and keywords.

Understanding the critical topics of the Shakespearean era is also advantageous for future

scholars or pupils.
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Keywords: Ideology, Language, Power, Description, Interpretation, Critical Discourse Analysis.

Introduction

Language is primarily a social construct, it is characterised by the display of power. Speech has

the ability to impose the authority. The characteristics of persuading, coercion, deceit, control,

and effort are present in speech. The selection of vocabulary elements, punctuation, intonation,

and metaphoric statements specifically define such speech characteristics. This study's objective

is to investigate the play Macbeth's language elements. This essay's main goal is to investigate

how words can be used to assert authority, manhood, ambition, and power.

The three witches predict to Macbeth, the play's main character, that he will become king as soon

as he recovers from the war. The witches foresaw that Banquo, a friend and fellow soldier of

Macbeth, would be the ancestor of the next generation of rulers while making the same

prediction. Macbeth killed King Duncan by going against his nature under the influence,

prodding, and persistent encouragement of his wife. He also dispatched soldiers to murder

Banquo and his sons in order to establish his and his family's prominent position in authority.

Soon after, Macbeth pays the witches another visit to learn more about what is ahead. The

witches declared that until the woodland of Birnam creeps near Macbeth's fortress at Dunsinane

and until he encounters an adversary "not born of woman," Macbeth cannot be destroyed.

Despite being impossible to believe, the witches' prophecy came true in an unexpected turn of

events as Malcolm's army advanced into Dunsinane carrying what appeared to be moving trees

in front of them. Macbeth learned that Macduff was born by the cesarean from his mother during

the final phase of the conflict. He battled back to reject the witches' prophecies, but in the end, he

was defeated and died at Macduff's hands.

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This play's language contains a lot of subversive ideologies and historical societal issues. The

language of the play "Macbeth" is subject to a critical discourse analysis in this research. The

goal of critical discourse analysis (CDA), an interdisciplinary approach, is to look at the ways in

which language is used to create and reflect social and political power relations. In terms of the

language employed in the play "Macbeth," CDA can assist in identifying the ways in which the

language is utilised to support or contradict prevailing ideologies and social norms.

Those in positions of power, for instance, employed language to express their authority and

uphold their control in Elizabethan culture, as seen in the language used by the characters in

"Macbeth." For instance, the witches use their prophecy-based control over Macbeth to play on

his ambition and terror in order to bring about his demise. In contrast, Lady Macbeth used

language to question and resist conventional gender roles, pleading with her husband to act and

admonishing him that she will "be unsexed" in order to achieve her goals.

The play's vocabulary also reflects the social and political unrest of the day, such as the fight for

dominance between Scotland and England and the apprehension of witches and paranormal

powers. The drama uses supernatural elements as a metaphor for the anxieties and fears of the

day, and the language employed to explain these components reflects the social and political

ideals of Elizabethan society.

Three steps are investigated by this model: description, interpretation, and explanation. This play

was chosen for study because it has language elements that illuminate the complexity and range

of human emotions. Characters' language conveys information about who they are.

The text corpus for "Macbeth" has been processed using the software AntConc (version

3.5.9).The wordlists, keywords, and keyword concordance have been categorized by this
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software. The popularity of Fairclough's model (1989) and the possibility that readers could learn

more about literary discourse through this study are the justifications for this investigation.

Literature Review

Vandijk (471) claims analyzing any CDA-related conversation (written or spoken) in light of

societal discourse practices. Domination, hegemony, racial discrimination, and injustice are

examples of these practices.

The abnormal association between diverse groups (social or ethnic) is revealed by CDA

(Fairclough 26). It exposes underlying beliefs that molded power and particular speech. To

create power relations that are shown through ideology, sequential events and text have been

focused on and linked to the discourse's broader socio-cultural viewpoint on how power is

employed to exercise the elite's hegemonic attitude and ideological text across society.

Fairclough has defined three stages of discourse analysis. In the first stage of CDA, people's

experiences and the speaker's knowledge are explained in light of his belief. In the second stage,

the speaker realized the consequences of social relationships on discourse, as well as reality and

identity. Linguistic decisions in any discourse, such as vocabulary selection and syntactical

design, have revealed the speaker's social background and identity. Language shapes discourse

and varied sociopolitical ideas, culminating in the exercise of power relations. Fairclough makes

a point. Speeches illustrate various relationships that occur in various social settings and

standards to which people belong. The function of ideological and political process text has been

Language has been regarded a social act for individuals to interact in a social setting.

According to Halliday (91), language and society are not only interconnected but also closely

linked in terms of communication. Language discourse or text, as well as context, help to form
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and define our identities. English speakers who speak well are thought to be socially and Paul 7

culturally dominant since they know the language of dominant people. In this scenario, the

language component is often used to identify that specific class.

Many literary forms have been examined in Critical Discourse Analysis using Fairclough's 3D

model. The connection between speech and society context is examined (CDA). Discourse and

belief system have an argumentative relationship. This investigation is subjective in nature,

based on basic discourse investigation, specifically Fairclough's three-dimensional model of

'Description' and 'Interpretation,' which led to 'Explanation,' which investigates the relationship

of meanings with social structures of authority and inconsistent force relations in contemporary

society (Sabir 90).

CDA is an interdisciplinary approach that examines text and its conversation rather than a

specific method of analysis. Similarly, Fairclough's concept of speech inspection was used to

deconstruct Robert Ferrigno's Sins of the Assassin, which explores the relationships between

language, personality, and philosophy (Hasan 8).

Researcher analysed Women’s discourse of power in Macbeth He emphasized how Lady

Macbeth and the Witches in Macbeth speak a particular language that is quite close to what

modern-day women seek. This language can be considered an antilanguage—a means for

women to influence, instruct, and control men. The current discourse analysis paradigm, which

suggests that women are weak, unimportant, dominated, and sexual objects, is challenged in this

paper by presenting women as equally strong, serious, and dominating as men. By examining

Lady Macbeth's speech, the research focused on contemporary ideas about discourse, power, and

women while applying them to Shakespeare's Macbeth. (Elsharkawy 3)

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Macbeth is also analysed from the perspective of feminism. William Shakespeare's female

characters frequently defy prevailing gender stereotypes and commit violent acts in his plays.

According to researchers, Lady Macbeth is one of these aggressive women who not only violates

gender stereotypes but also sustains traditional patriarchal systems of control. In order to enhance

patrilineage and her status within Scotland, Lady Macbeth resorts to violence that is the result of

her excessive femininity. The researcher used historical interpretations of the time period's

gender standards as well as Cristina León Alfar's feminist analysis of Lady Macbeth to try to

understand why she acted violently. (Kenny 81)

Methodology

The study of societal discourses and people falls under the larger topic of CDA. According to

Dijk (1998), CDA is a field of study that focuses on the analysis of spoken or written texts. It

examines all power dynamics, power abuse, inequality, and biases in public discourse.

Additionally, it explores how the writings' social, political, and historical contexts influence them

(Dijk, 1998). The texts' linguistic features, which investigate the causes of power, inequality, and

domination, are described by Fairclough (1993). It talks about the hazy justifications for how

readers, events, and large social and cultural groupings are implemented discursively. It looks

into the ways in which the language is permeated by power and covert notions. Exploring power

and how people protect themselves from its abuse is the primary goal of CDA. As a result, CDA

examines a wide range of texts and subjects.

Research Framework

Fairclough developed a model for critical discourse analysis (1989). This paradigm investigates

the connections between ideologies, power, and language. According to Fairclough, using
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language is similar to engaging in social behaviours (Fairclough, 1992). What motivated

Fairclough to develop his model in 1989? He noted that human interpretation could not be

examined by critical linguistics. The primary idea of CL was the researcher's and other people's

interpretations. One additional thing: CL only looked at the texts' grammatical and linguistic

elements. Fairclough, on the other hand, was not on board at this time. According to him,

intertextuality is crucial when analysing a text (Fairclough, 1995a). To further examine the text's

aspects, he presented his model in 1989.

(Figure 1: Fairclough's three-dimensional framework for analysis of discourse.)

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Description stage

The first stage that deals with the description of the text is the description stage. According to

Fairclough, linguistic analysis is a subset of textual analysis. The creation, arrangement, and

structure of the text are all part of this phase. The study of sounds, word formation, semantics,

syntax, context, cohesion, and coherence above the level of sentences is referred to as linguistic

analysis (Fairclough 81).

Interpretation of text

The interpretation of a text becomes important after describing its features. The second

component of Fairclough's concept is text interpretation (1989). The real interpretation of the

text is equally important to know. This phase focuses on how individuals interpret the text. It has

to do with how readers react to a text. Despite the fact that there are many possible

interpretations of a text, this stage verifies the researcher's understanding of a particular

discourse.

While investigating this stage, two key considerations have been made: the first is background

information, and the second is a person's experiences. This phase comprises information on the

creation and comprehension of the material in two situations. Situational context and intertextual

context are the two types. The dimensions of these contexts are different. The text originator and

text adapter are discussed in the intertextual context. On the other hand, situational context

establishes the time, location, and setting in which the writing is produced. Knowing people's

responsibilities and what they do is another goal of this stage. Writing is done to present the laws

and morals. The author educates readers about societal conventions.

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Explanation stage

The three-dimensional model developed by Fairclough ends with the explanation (1989). This

level involves analysing the text while keeping in mind social practise. Work on the social and

cultural reality is done in this stage. This step is crucial for a clearer grasp of the content. Three

main stages of analysis are covered. The power and relationships of power are explained at the

situational and institutional levels. It looks into the social setting in which speech is produced. It

draws attention to the various societal institutions that contributed to the creation of this text. The

social level illustrates how society functions. The institutional level, on the other hand, describes

global challenges that are present everywhere. It focuses on how the discourse producer infuses

bigger beliefs into the content.

Material and Methods

In this study, both qualitative and quantitative techniques have been used. This research is

mixed-methods in approach. The data in this study have been analysed using AntConc software

(version 3.5.9). The concordances of some particular keywords have been utilised in the

qualitative method. Concordance provided knowledge about the theories underlying the creation

of this play. By eliminating the frequencies of lexical items, the corpus of the play is described in

the quantitative manner. The wordlists and keyword list have been extracted by software at the

description stage. The study's corpus was gathered from the website "nosweatshakespeare.com."

The text is then transformed into plain text so that the software can analyse it.

Analysis and Discussion

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Shakespeare's "Macbeth" play is discussed in this section. The data is examined by employing

Fairclough's CDA model (1989). The text is described first, then it is interpreted next, and last it

is explained.

Textual Analysis

Lexis, grammar, and literary structure are all examined in the first phase. Adjectives, model

verbs, pronouns, lexical elements, and pronouns have all been examined at this level. Negative

lexical items like hate, devil, hell, murder, kill; witches, revenge, spells, worse, secret, power,

desires, assassination and Fear represent different ideologies like power abuse, Hatred, guilt and

greed of play’s protagonist plotting and manipulation of Lady Macbeth to become more

powerful. Positive lexical items like love, dear, honest, brave, fair and sweet represent love and

affection between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. The pronoun “I” is used 370 times and “we” is

used just 90 times which represents the ideology of Individualism.

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It represents that there is lack of collectivism in the play. The use of reflexive pronoun, “myself”

represents pride. Objective pronouns me, him, her, as a part of conversation, are used by the

author to show the position of people as objects. Model verbs like must are used in the language

of the play to emphasize and manipulate.

Frequency of Superlative Adjectives in greater number and there are no General adjectives used

which explains the ideology of extremism in the play.

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Interpretation stage

At this phase, AntConc software has displayed the concordance of a few keywords (version

3.5.9). The concordance is useful for understanding the implicit beliefs that Shakespeare

incorporated into "Macbeth." During this phase, it is important to emphasize the social issues of

the time. The following hidden beliefs have been revealed, and this article has a thorough

explanation of each.
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Ideology of power is represented through the language of Lady Macbeth .She convinced

Macbeth that he would be a lesser man if he didn't destroy everyone who stood in his way of

becoming a monarch by instilling the idea of doing so in his mind. Lady Macbeth's view of

power is traditionally masculine, even in appearance. She adopts a masculine demeanour and

abandons her feminine characteristics—babies, milk, nipples, etc.—in order for Macbeth to take

the necessary action.

This "fair is foul, and foul is fair" milieu echoes the strangeness of the Elizabethan era, when

women were characterised by chastity, obedience, and faithfulness, as well as the peculiar type

of women (e.g., effective and domineering) (Novy, 84). The language evolved to support their

authority. The link between language and power is crucial since the former mirrors the latter's

substance and form. The use of women's language varies throughout Macbeth, from Lady

Macbeth's instructions to the witches' expositions. Shakespeare gave the witches a strong tongue

that enhanced their respective personas. Because they live in a patriarchal environment and reject

the authority of women, Macbeth and Banquo, who serve as the Elizabethan audience for the

witches, do not believe in such power and are unsure of their gender. Shakespeare, on the other

hand, gave them strength by having their impacts bolster the entire play. By putting the witches'

words into action, Lady Macbeth contributes to the role of the witches and gives herself a special

experience that speaks to her femininity.

The conversation between Malcolm and Macduff is influenced by a political ideology. When

Macduff depicts the state of Scotland, the first hints of it can be found in his statement that

"every fresh morning new widows lament, new orphans weep, and new sorrows strike heaven in

the face" (4.3.4-6). Scotland is currently experiencing terrible unrest. This is because of

Macbeth. Shakespeare's central thesis is that the moral character of a society's leader has a
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significant bearing on the wellbeing of that society. Scotland is in a terrible state right now

because of Macbeth's cruelty and nasty character. This is the reason an honest man like Malcolm

must trick Macduff. Malcolm is compelled to respond to the pervasive dishonesty in society.

Act 5, scene 1 represents the idea of guilt in Macbeth about murdering his king and plotting the

murder of his friend. Macbeth says “What’s done/ cannot be undone” Banquo makes him

experience guilt-inducing hallucinations. Additionally experiencing hallucinations, Lady

Macbeth eventually loses her mind due to her involvement in Duncan's death. It is implied that

neither Macbeth nor his wife are completely cold-blooded by the fact that both characters

experience pain as a result of their deeds. Despite committing horrible acts, they are aware on

some level that what they did was wrong. They can't truly enjoy the authority they so desperately

wanted because of their guilt.

Explanation stage

The explanation step follows the description and interpretation stages of the play "Macbeth"

corpus analysis. As stated in the literature study, a text must meet the requirements for this step.

Situational, institutional, and societal steps comprise the three major aspects in this stage. Within

these tiers, the play's analysis has been done. In the interpretive stage, this article discusses the

situational and sociological settings.

The institutional background is focused on the more general issues of the time, such as power,

authority, money, control, etc. Only a few of the many societal problems have been identified by

this investigation. Money, status, retaliation, hatred, power, and other issues dominated the

societal issues of the Shakespearean era.

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Shakespeare's plays are still relevant in the twenty-first century, despite many claims to the

contrary. Shakespeare's plays are incredibly relatable, and the ideologies they present are still

relevant to us. Numerous ideologies are presented in Macbeth that people might use to develop

their own beliefs and link with contemporary themes and tenets.

The impact of Shakesperean tragedy on society is to develop a sense of morality. The play

presents the ideologies of corruption of power to develop people’s ideologies in certain way that

they would keep in mind the effects aand the destruction that take place with the abuse of power

and manipulation.

In conclusion, CDA is the reliable way for looking at the theories that have been woven into

discourses. The far more effective strategy for examining the text in order to analyse questions of

power, ideologies, and language is Fairclough's model (1989). This stage satisfied all

requirement of the analysis.

Conclusion

The first examination in this study concerned the language elements of the play "Macbeth." This

study discovered certain lexical elements that characterise human language. According to this

study, pronouns play a key role in defining identities. The characters' arbitrary locations were

revealed by the personal pronouns. Objective pronouns, on the other hand, showed the characters

as things. The possessive pronouns convey a person's degree of possessiveness towards their

possessions. The majority of the characters, according to this study, are self-centered. In light of

this, the pronouns' intended meaning is that the people of that time were selfish, self-contained,

and self-oriented. The third query in this essay is how Shakespeare constructs concealed

ideologies through language.

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Citations

Van Dijk, Teun A. "Critical discourse analysis." The handbook of discourse analysis (2015):

466-485.

Fairclough, Norman. Language and power. Routledge, 2013.

Halliday, Michael Alexander Kirkwood. Language as social semiotic: The social interpretation

of language and meaning. Vol. 42. London: Edward Arnold, 1978.

Sabir, Maryam, and Nadia Kanwal. "Norman Fairclough’s model as a research tool in the critical

discourse analysis of Robert Frost’s poem Fire and Ice." Faculty of Social Sciences and

Humanities University of Wah, Wah Cantt 83 (2018).

Hasan, Assist Prof Jasim Mohammed. "A Critical Discourse Analysis of Robert Ferrigno's Sins

of the Assassin." Journal of Basra researches for Human Sciences 43.2 (2018): 1-12

Peña Cervel, M. A. Sandra. "Macbeth revisited: A cognitive analysis." Metaphor and

Symbol 26.1 (2010): 1-22.

Çağdaş, Recep. "How power corrupts in Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Christopher Marlowe’s

Doctor Faustus: An Analysis."

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Nabhan, Fuad. "Lady Macbeth between Ambition and Femininity in William Shakespeare's

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